A survey of 358 senior executives and directors at 53 publicly traded companies had revealed at least seven instances of claims that individuals had academic degrees they don’t have. After further scrutiny, the mishaps may have not been intentional and could have been caused by misunderstandings, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Among the executives whose credentials fell under question: Dennis Workman, chief technical officer at Trimble Navigation, a maker of global-positioning-system devices; and James DeHoniesto, who, until Wednesday, served as chief information officer at Cabot Microelectronics, a supplier of chemicals and pads used to polish microchips.
Over the past few years, corporate officials or directors have lost their jobs due to resume inaccuracies, including executives at RadioShack, Herbalife, and Usana Health Sciences. Barry Minkow, a sometimes short seller, uncovered the erroneous credentials at the latter two companie and the WSJ story suggested that his research could cause investors to question vetting policies for management and board members. “You have to ask yourself, as any good investigator would say, what else might be there?” says Minkow, who heads the San Diego-based Fraud Discovery Institute.
Minkow also told the WSJ he has cross-checked companies’ top officials’ biographies—typically included with the Securities and Exchange Commission—against a database of college degrees open to private investigators. The search confirmed each case of inaccurate degree claim with the university involved.
The SEC filing found that Workman, Trimble’s CTO, inaccurately stated that he holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. M.I.T. says Workman attended the school and studied physics for two semesters but did not earn a degree.
LeaAnn McNabb, a spokesperson for Trimble, believed he had received a master’s degree when he left M.I.T.’s doctoral program in the late 1960s.
“I don’t remember receiving the degree,” says Workman to WSJ. “It’s my position that I earned it, that’s for sure. I’m unequivocal about that.” Workman also said he had planned to earn a Ph.D., but had to leave school because of the Vietnam War.
A corporate biography claimed DeHoniesto, Cabot Microelectronic’s CTO, had a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Pittsburgh. While he did attend the school in the 1980s, he never earned a degree. DeHoniesto resigned from the company on Wednesday.
Sam Box, who until recently served as president of Tetra Tech, appeared repeatedly in the company’s SEC filings as a holder of a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of California. However, upon further questioning, the environmental-engineering company said that Box had admitted that he does not have a college degree and that they would demote him to vice president.
When searching beyond the executive suite, inflated credentials are also prevalent further down the corporate ladder. Jenifer DeLoach, who supervises background checks for corporate clients at Kroll, the investigative arm of Marsh & McLennan, says inflated credentials are common.
Kroll issues an annual report of its “hit ratio” that says about 20 percent of job seekers and rank-and-file employees undergoing background checks by their company are found to have inaccurate and inflated credentials on their resume.
Robert Lazarowitz, who sits on the board of Knight Capital group, said he earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of South Florida. However the school confirmed that he only attended USF for two years—in 1975 and 1976—and never earned a degree, according to WSJ.
Owen Kratz, CEO of Texas-based Helix Energy Solutions Group, said he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Another falsehood, as Stony Brook confirmed that Kratz does have a biology degree from the College at Brockport, a less-prestigious SUNY campus where Kratz transferred in 1974.
Kenneth Keiser, the president and COO of PepsiAmericas, one of the country’s largest Pepsi bottlers, says he has a bachelor of the arts degree from Michigan State University. The university confirmed that he never graduated.
A PepsiAmericas spokesperson, Mary Viola, says the company was aware that Keiser stopped attending college “10 or 20 hours short of a degree.” She said that his bachelor’s degree was mistakenly imputed in its past several proxy months.
“I’m sure Keiser does read their proxy, but he doesn’t read his own bio,” says Viola.
C.H. Robinson, the company responsible for the error had “mistakenly assumed that he earned a degree.” However, Angie Freeman, a spokesperson for C.H. Robinson, said Keisner signed off on his own mistaken biography. “The company did periodically provide the materials for him to review,” she says, in the process of preparing its 2006, 2007, and 2008 proxy statements—all of which included the false degree.